Additional investigation has found bribery was involved in the Xi'an March lottery cheating scandal and eight governmental functionaries alleged to have been involved have been arrested, according to local police sources.

Jia Anqing, former director of Shaanxi Provincial Sports Lottery Administration Center, is accused of accepting 130,000 yuan (US$15,663) from Yang Yongming, a private businessman who was behind the March lottery cheating case, sources said.

And seven other officials from the center and from Xi'an and Yan'an lottery administration centers also stand accused of accepting money from Yang, ranging from 94,000 yuan (US$11,325) to 7,000 yuan (US$843).

"Since 2000, these governmental functionaries provided Yang Yongming with rights to sell sports lottery tickets from which Yang made profits by cheating, and they accepted money from Yang," a police source said.

Yang Yongming, a private businessman, started selling sports lottery tickets in Shaanxi in 2000 with contracts signed by Shaanxi Provincial Sports Lottery Administration Centre, and he cheated continually to make profits from the lottery sales.

"And Yang's cheating was exposed by accident in March," police said.

During the lottery selling from March 20 to 25 in downtown Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Yang had a plan to cheat on the four top prizes, each with a BMW325i car and 120,000 yuan (US$14,460) to be given away.

By making marks on the envelopes which contained the numbers for the top prizes, Yang Yongming arranged for his employee Sun Chenggui to dispense the prizes. Yang also employed another four people to falsely claim the top prizes, local police said.

The scam was exposed when a local farmer living in the east suburb of Xi'an, Liu Liang, was mistakenly given an envelope containing a top prize by Yang Yongming.

When Liu claimed the prize, Yang said the ticket Liu picked up was forged. Liu persisted that it was real, and the on-going quarrel drew national media attention.

Police soon intervened in the case and five people, including Yang Yongming, suspected of cheating, were arrested on June 2.

The investigation also indicated that Yang and his employees, who were all arrested on June 2, also cheated in the lotteries in Yan'an and Yulin, two cities in northern Shaanxi, in January and February. They employed five local people to falsely claim nine Chery cars, local police said.

Beside the eight lottery officials, seven notaries who were also involved in the scandal were also arrested by local police, and some officials who suspected in the case are still being investigated.